Home Again
by adoption142
Summary: Ariana was a normal teenager, before she found out she was adopted! She goes back to her home world, which just happens to be the world of Naruto! Will what she learns change her life forever?
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys! I'm back after a very long vacation. I was unhappy with all of my stories, so I took them down and rewrote them. This used to be called "Ariana Moore in Naruto", but it wasn't very creative. Hopefully it works out better this time! –Adoption142

I groaned as my alarm clock's annoying buzz jarred me from my sleep. Normally I had no problem getting up, but I had been up all night watching Naruto again. It was my all-time favorite anime, introduced to me by my anime crazed friend Emily. I hit the off button and rolled out of bed, hitting the carpet loudly because my legs were tangled in my sheets.

"Ugh, today is going to suck," I groaned.

"Ariana!" my mom shouted. "Hurry up or you're going to be late!" I moaned and got up off the floor. My mom was hardly home because of her job, so I wasn't used to her being there to wake me up. I threw on some clothes, tied my leaf headband around my upper arm, and stumbled downstairs. My mom set a bowl of cereal in front of me at the kitchen table.

"Sorry hun, I wanted to make you a big breakfast, but I'm just so swamped," she sighed and walked back into her office.

"That's alright, I know you're busy," I said, but she was too busy typing to say anything. I ate quickly and ran out the door into the morning sun. It was July, so there wasn't school, but I worked with Emily at her mom's comic book shop. I breezed in the front door and Emily's mom smiled at me from the counter. "Good morning!" I greeted, vaulting over the glass countertop and into the back room where Emily most likely was. I burst in, shouting.

"HEY, EMILY! SORRY I'M LATE!" I heard her chuckle from the ceiling. I climbed the shelf and jumped onto the rafter beam next to her.

"It's okay Ariana. I just got here like five minutes ago anyway. My cat decided to attack me every time I touched the floor," she explained. I laughed and she turned red. Emily's cat was as mean as a rabid bear, and as quick as lightning.

"Hey, your mom finally let you get your hair dyed pink!" I said, rubbing a strand between my fingers.

"You're so lucky! You don't have to dye your hair or wear contacts to look like a character!" she grumbled. I blew my blood red hair out of my face in frustration.

"I like Naruto better than Gaara! He's way better! And it's not my fault I look like Gaara!"

"You're like, exactly like Gaara, except you're not a cold blooded killer, you have emotions, you don't have a bloodthirsty sand demon inside of you, and you're a chick." She said.

I growled. "EXACTLY! I HAVE NOTHING IN COMMON WITH GAARA!" I yelled.

"Sure, whatever floats your boat."

I glared at her. She glared back at me and then we both burst out laughing. I heard the little bell above the door jingle, and the desk bell ring. That meant that Emily's mom was out, so I had to deal with the sale. I jumped down to the floor, doing a fancy flip, and gave a triumphant shout of "PARKOUR!" when I stuck the landing. Emily laughed at our inside joke.

"Show off!" Emily yelled. I laughed and gave her the peace sign before walking out to the front of the store. I looked from behind the counter and didn't see anybody, so I hopped over it and looked behind a few shelves. I heard a sound from behind me and spun around. There was a man wearing a black hoodie, and he had black bandage over one eye.

"Uh, hi?" I said.

"Hey," he replied. There was an awkward moment of silence before I spoke up again.

"Can I help you?" I asked, tilting my head a bit. His eye widened for a moment, before he reached for his hood.

"Right, I forgot I wasn't wearing my regular clothes," he said, letting the hood fall. I blinked when I realized who the person was. Kakashi Hatake. I slapped myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming, which caused a look of concern from him.

"I must have eaten too much chocolate before I went to sleep. Yeah, that's it. I'm still lying at home in my bed, sleeping like a log. This is all a dream, of course," I chuckled nervously. "There is absolutely no way that Kakashi Hatake is sitting here talking to me."

"So you know of me already huh?" he asked. I resisted the urge to face palm despite my slight panic and nodded, pointing to our shelf of Naruto manga. He gave a sheepish look and rubbed his neck, chuckling slightly. "Oh right, I forgot that I'm famous here."

"Did you….need something Dream Kakashi? Are you here to warn me about dangerous things to come?" I asked, wiggling my fingers and making spooky noises. He looked surprised for a moment, before taking a small scroll and an envelope out of his pocket. The envelope had my name written on it, along with a leaf stamp.

"I assume you know how to use the summoning scroll, am I right?" he asked, handing them to me. I nodded and stared in awe, wondering who the letter could possibly be from and why they would send Kakashi all the way here. Then I remembered that this was all fake.

"Are you okay?" he asked. I jumped and looked up at him again. His brow was raised and he was staring at me pretty intensely.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine. It's just that-," I was interrupted by Emily shouting from the stock room.

"Hey Ariana, is everything all right out there?" Kakashi put a finger to his lips and I nodded in reply.

"Yeah everything's fine, I'll be back in a sec!" I heard her start to climb down the beams and turned to warn Kakashi.

"I think it's time for you to leave," I explained, but he was gone. The bell above the door hadn't even jingled. I leaned over the counter and looked down the aisles to make sure, but there was no evidence that he had ever been there, besides the scroll and letter I held in my hand.

Emily popped her head around the corner.

"Hey, what took you so long?" she asked. She gave the store a quick onceover before returning her gaze to me.

"Oh, some guy just wanted to know if we had the first issue of Batman. I told him no."

"Sheesh, that's really rare. I hope he finds one," she said, turning to go back into the storage room.

"Hey, I don't feel well. I think I'm going to go home and lay down," I said. She nodded sympathetically.

"Yeah, you _do_ look kind of pale. My mom should be back soon; I can handle things until then. See you later," she said, grabbing a box and disappearing into the storage room.

I walked out the door and down the street, bursting into a sprint as soon as I was sure she couldn't see me. I opened the door quietly and snuck past my mother to my room. I closed the door, locked it, and unraveled the scroll onto my bed. I broke the seal on the outside and coughed as a puff of smoke filled the room. I threw open my window and waited for the smoke to clear. Kunai knives and cases, shuriken, senbon, smoke bombs, exploding notes, soldier pills, and a pouch to hold all of it, along with three thick rolls of bandages, were separated into piles that fit onto the scroll. There were also a couple of jutsu scrolls, and a notebook with a small pen.

"There's no way this is happening right now." I breathed. I calmed down enough to tear open the letter and quickly skimmed through it before going back to read it again in shock.

'Dear Ariana,

It has taken me many years to find you. I know you are having trouble believing that any of this is happening, but try to bear with me. Years ago, when the Nine-Tails attacked our village, your parents disobeyed my orders and tried to take you away so that you would be safe. They came back later, and you were gone. They never told me where they hid you, but asked that I find you and bring you back to Konoha. Sadly, they died while fighting the Nine-Tails, but I wanted to keep my promise. Being a regular shinobi when this happened, I didn't have the power to do such a task, but when I was appointed Hokage I did everything in my power to find you. It took a long time, but it seems I finally succeeded.

I would like to ask you to come to Konoha, so I can tell you the story in more detail. Letters are not the best for explaining things of this nature. Please, consider carefully, for once you accept this agreement you will not be able to go back. It takes a lot of time and energy which I no longer possess to perform this jutsu, and I do not believe I will be able to do it a second time. If you choose to accept my offer, simply bite your thumb and smear it onto the back of this letter. The effect will not be immediate, but it will bring you here. Also, everyone here will forget you ever existed, to avoid unnecessary suffering. If you decide to stay with your adoptive mother and your friends, just rip up the letter. Your memory of this will be erased and the supplies I gave you will disappear. Again, please, consider this decision carefully. It is not something to be taken lightly.

My best regards,

The Third Hokage

P.S. If you don't believe me, just ask your mother.'

"No way," I gasped, dropping the letter. I ran a hand through my hair and tried to decide. Was it really worth giving up everything to learn about my already dead parents?

'_Yes_,' I realized. Ever since I was little, I always had to know the whole story. If I started a book, I had to finish it; there was simply no other option. When I was about 10 I followed a magician around for over a week to figure out how he made a bird disappear. I let out an exasperated sigh and flopped backwards onto my bed. I would think more and decide in the morning. Despite my dilemma, I felt sleep slowly creeping up on me. I closed my eyes and fell asleep before I knew it.

I woke up for the third time that night, jerked out of a fitful sleep. I let out a hiss as I looked at the letter, cursing it for giving me such a hard time. I stumbled to the light switch and flipped it on, making my room light up with a soft glow. I picked up the letter and went downstairs, hoping my mother was still awake. She was still typing away on the computer, sipping a coffee.

"Mom," I said. She stopped typing and looked over at me, and then at her watch.

"Ariana, it's three in the morning. You should be in bed," she scolded lightly, and then she went back to typing.

"Mom, I know I'm not your real daughter," I said, holding up the letter. She froze, sighed, and closed her laptop.

"I was hoping that letter would never come. Sit," she said, gesturing to the chair across from her. I sat, the letter carefully smoothed in my hands. "It's true that you're not my biological daughter. Your mother was…oh what was the word…a kinichi."

"A kunoichi," I corrected. She gave me a sharp look before continuing.

"Anyway, I was sitting at this very table 14 years ago when a strange blue light came from the living room. When I walked in to investigate, a young woman was standing in front of a mirror, holding a baby girl. She held the baby out to me and told me to take care of you until someone called a Hakigee-."

"Hokage."

"-sent for you. I tried to get her to explain, but she was sucked back into the mirror before she could answer. When she left, the mirror disappeared and you were the only evidence that anything strange had happened. I wasn't looking to have to take care of a baby, but you were so cute that I had to keep you. I named you Ariana, raised you, and here we are today."

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked.

"Well, you would have thought that I was crazy! Even if you had believed me, what if they never found you? I didn't want to get your hopes up," she explained.

"I'm going to say yes, I think. I want to know more about them. Maybe I have some family there. I have to know…" I trailed off, looking back at the letter. She smiled before digging in her drawer for a tack.

"I know. Go dear, and make sure you remember me when you get there!" she laughed. I gave her one last hug before taking the tack and running back to my room.

I sat on the bed and took the letter in my hands again, poking my thumb and smearing it across the letter. It turned blue for a moment, before disappearing in a puff of smoke. I let my body fall back onto the pillows, and I was asleep again before I knew it.

"Hey. Hey. Hey sister, are you alright?" someone asked. They were shaking me pretty roughly; making my head hit the ground. I cracked an eye against the sunlight and glared at my attacker.

"I'm fine, but if you don't stop shaking me like that I'm going to get a concussion, so just knock it off will ya?" I growled. They let me drop back on the ground again, and I sat up to dust myself off, realizing that my clothes were different. I had on black ninja sandals, with bandages wrapped around my feet, up my shins, and wrapped around the bottom of my black ninja pants. There were bandages wrapped around my waist where my shirt and pants met. My shirt was a V-neck and was dark green, with a mesh tank top underneath. The shirt's sleeves barely passed over my shoulders, allowing for easy movement. There were bandages wrapped around my arms from my elbow to the end of my first knuckle, and I had dark green fingerless gloves with metal plates on the back. I had three kunai cases strapped to my left leg, and a pouch filled with shuriken and other tools on my right. My hair was tied in a high ponytail, to keep it from getting in my face during a fight. My bangs hung far down my face, almost covering my left eye. The only thing missing was my headband, which had disappeared.

"Hey, I'm Ariana," I said, giving the person, who I know realized was a boy, a smile.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I'm going to be Hokage someday!" he shouted. He did a pose and gave me a huge grin, which led to an awkward moment of silence.

"Alright, like I was saying, my name is Ariana Moore, and I am a new Leaf citizen that will be attending the academy for the last week and hopefully pass and become a genin. But, first things first, I need to talk to the Hokage."

"Okay, I'll show you how to get there!" he said, grabbing my arm and tugging me away.

I knocked loudly on the door to the Hokage's office, opening it when he told me to come in.

"Hello," I said. The Hokage smiled at me, though he looked a little tired.

"Ah, I see you've made it. How was the trip? No missing limbs I hope," he joked.

"No, I'm alright. Not to be rude, but can we just cut to the chase?" I asked. He nodded and began.

"Right. I guess I should start from the beginning then. Your mother was from Konoha, and your father was from the Sand. He denied having any relationship with your mother and claimed that you were born to his wife. Before the Nine-Tails attacked, you lived in Suna with your father, your two older half-siblings, and your younger half-brother. When the attack came, you were only one year old, and your mother stole you from your father and hid you away in that world with almost all of her remaining chakra. She told me the basics for the jutsu, asked me to bring you back, and then went off to fight the Nine-Tails. Sadly, she passed away before I knew everything about the jutsu so I had to figure it out for myself, which is why it took so long to find you."

"My father… is he still alive?" I asked.

"Possibly. I don't actually know who your father is. That was something your mother took with her to the death."

"My mother, what was her name?" I asked.

` "Your mother's name was Kimio Moore, a strange name that she picked herself when she separated completely from your father."

"Okay then. Is there anything else?"

"That notebook you have was left to you by your mother. It makes anything you write, within reason of course, become real. Use it wisely; I would hate to have it fall into the wrong hands. Here's some money to last you until tomorrow. Your apartment is across from Naruto's, so I'm going to apologize for the noise beforehand. Just ask a villager if you need directions." He threw a small brown pouch my way, which jingled as I caught it.

"That's good to know. See you later, Lord Hokage," I said, quickly shoving the pouch into my pocket and hurrying outside. It was already mid-morning, and I wanted to do some exploring.

I walked around for a few hours, before my growling stomach made me stop at Ichiraku Ramen. I had just ordered when Naruto abruptly slid to a stop outside and ducked under the banner. He sat down on a stool in front of the long serving counter while the man with a white chef coat and hat came up to the counter, smiling when he saw Naruto.

"Hey Naruto! I didn't expect to see you in here again so soon!" he laughed, leaning on the countertop.

"I know, but I can't pass up the chance of ramen! A bowl of pork miso please, with extra pork!" Naruto said, picking up his chopsticks and breaking them. "Oh hey! It's Ariana, right? I found you in that field earlier."

"Yeah, it's nice to see you again," I said, smiling. The chef came back with our bowls, setting them down in front of us.

"My name is Teuchi, and I run Ichiraku's with my daughter, Ayame. It's nice to meet you."

"I'm Ariana. I moved here to train to be a ninja!"

"You're welcome here any time. To welcome you to the village, your first bowl is on the house, how's that?" He gave a warm smile and returned to the back of the shop, presumably fixing another bowl for Naruto, who was almost done with his first. I sighed happily and dug in.

"Wow, that was so much fun!" I said. Naruto had offered to give me a basic tour of town, which meant we had stayed out until late in the evening, and I was exhausted from running all over. Naruto stopped at the door to his apartment and turned back.

"You have somewhere to stay tonight right?" he asked, actually looking worried. I laughed and waved my hand at him.

"Of course I do! I actually got the apartment right across from yours," I said. I dug through my pockets and found a small silver key. I said goodnight to Naruto and changed out of my clothes into a pair of shorts and a tank top. It was still pretty warm outside, so I decided to take a walk. I ended up at the top of a small hill with a great view of the stars. The moon cast enough light to be able to see where I was going, which helped me a lot. I started walking back to my apartment when I saw a body lying nearby. Naturally, I walked over and poked it with my sandal. It twitched, but otherwise didn't move.

"Hey, Pineapple Head. You're going to get sick if you stay out here," I said, watching as his eye twitched again. "Hello? I know you're awake. Your eye twitches whenever I poke you. Unless the twitch is some kind of weird postmortem thing. Maybe it's a sign of being a zombie. Are you a zombie, Pineapple Head?" There was still no sign of him moving, and I sighed. "Stupid Shikamaru, you're so lazy." I tried to step around him, but he stuck his leg out and tripped me. I managed to change my direction and fall on top of him instead of hitting the ground. He sighed as I rolled off of him and dusted myself off.

"Do I know you?" he asked.

"Nope. I'm Ariana," I said, offering my hand. He took it and I hauled him up.

"Shikamaru, but it seems you already knew that."

"Oh, yeah, uh, Naruto told me about you," I lied. He noticed that I was lying, being the smart guy he was, but didn't call me out on it. "So, why are you just standing out here in the middle of the night? Shouldn't you be at home or something?"

"I was watching the clouds earlier and fell asleep, that's all. What are you doing out here?" he asked.

"I don't know. I'm super tired, but I couldn't sleep, you know? So, I came out here and decided to take a walk. I might head back now actually."

"Okay, see you around then."

I waved goodbye and started back to my apartment, humming to myself with my thumbs in my pockets.

I was almost back home when my good luck ran out. The streetlight above my head flickered and then exploded, raining down bits of glass. A pair of arms reached out and grabbed me, covering my mouth. I was pulled into an alley before I stepped on his toes and bit his hand, managing to wriggle out of his grip. I felt another guy's hand brush my ponytail and managed to hip-throw him onto the ground. At this point, I was glad that I watched those how-to self-defense videos that my paranoid aunt had bought me. Though my attempt to shove one of the guys' nose into his brain didn't work out that well. The man cursed as his nose started gushing blood and threw a solid punch to my jaw. My head cracked against the wall and stars exploded in my vision. I felt a small stream of blood flow into my eye and I wiped it away.

"Come on, grab her!"

"It's too dark, I can't see a damn thing!" I heard a small click and squinted when a beam of light shone in my eyes. Two men were also trying to adjust. One was beefy and his nose was bleeding. The other was thin, but he had muscle as well. My only choice was to run; I couldn't win two against one, especially with these guys being my opponents. I glanced around and saw an escape route, a small fire escape with a clothes line leading to my apartments. The only problem was, the ladder was two feet higher than I was. It would be risky, but I had to try. I kicked the flashlight from the beefy guy's hand. It skittered across the pavement before sputtering out, plunging us back into darkness. The skinny guy managed to land gut busting kick to my stomach. I heard a crack in my side and crumpled to the ground.

"Look kid, just make it easy on yourself. Hand over your money, and no one gets hurt."

I jumped up and spat in his face, using the opportunity to make a dash for the fire escape. I gathered all the strength I had left and jumped, grabbing the rung with 3 fingers. I managed to haul myself up, racing my way to the top. Skinny was using Beefy's shoulder to climb up. I ripped some fabric from the bottom of my tank top and wrapped it on the clothes line, and then around my hands. Skinny's hand was inches away from my ponytail when I shoved off, racing down the line.

"Haha, nice try suckers!" I shouted, and then crashed onto a balcony and into the glass door. A light flicked on, and Naruto threw open the door and stuck his head out, his eyes widening when he saw me lying there.

"Ariana? What the heck are you doing out here?" he asked, throwing my arm over his shoulder and hauling me up. He led me back to my apartment and laid me on my couch.

"I'm fine Naruto, go back to sleep. I just fell when I was walking and hit a tree, and then I forgot my outside door key and had to get inside some other way. I'm sorry for all the trouble," I said. Naruto, to my surprise, believed everything and went back into his apartment after getting me a glass of water and some pain medicine. If my head didn't hurt so badly I would have been banging it on my coffee table.

I managed to haul myself up and drag myself into the bathroom, grabbing some bandages, antiseptic and small butterfly band-aid from the medicine cabinet. I sat on the vanity and examined the damage. My lip was split in the corner, and my jaw was tender but not bruised. I had a long but shallow cut on my forehead, which had stopped bleeding by now. The worst was my ribs, which I wrapped tightly with bandages and tried not to breathe too deeply. I cleaned my cut and bandaged it, washed the blood off, and put on a new shirt (with much difficulty) before falling on my bed and falling asleep immediately.

The sun shining brightly through my open blinds woke me up. I glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost 10:30. I groaned and sat up, trying not to touch my side or face. I changed my pants before trudging into the bathroom and saw that the swelling in my lip had gone down, and my cut was less of an angry red. My side and head were beginning to throb again, so I took some pain medicine before heading out to buy some groceries. I needed to stock up my candy and sugary drink supply, and get some oranges too.

I had been walking around for about an hour, hopelessly lost. My stomach was grumbling and my lip was stinging, and I still had no groceries. I smelled cooking meat and followed it down the street to a small restaurant, where I saw Shikamaru and two other people sitting right inside.

'_Oh crap, he can't see me like this! Just turn around, don't make eye contact. Maybe he won't see you.'_

"Hey, Ariana! Over here!" Shikamaru waved his hand, though it wasn't very enthusiastic. The two sitting next to him looked over, smiling invitingly. I sighed, I was hungry anyway.

"Hey Shikamaru, what's up?" I asked, sitting in an empty chair.

"I just saw you and figured I might as well invite you over. Besides, if you had found out that I was here and didn't say hi, you'd probably yell at me."

"Gee, your faith in me is amazing," I deadpanned. "Though I'm sorry to say that you're probably right."

"Of course I am. By the way, that's Choji."

"Hey, who're you?" he asked.

"I'm Ariana. I just moved into the village. It's nice to meet you Choji," I smiled.

"I'm glad to meet you too." The blonde girl spoke up, eyeing me up and down.

"Hi, I'm Ino, nice to meet you," she smiled.

"I'm Ariana, and it's nice to meet you too." I looked over and noticed Shikamaru staring at me.

"What? Did I say something weird?" I asked. He shook his head.

"What happened to you? You look like you got beat up by some thugs or something." I sighed heavily, wincing because of my ribs, and decided not to lie.

"That's because I did get beat up by some thugs. I was walking home and they ambushed me. I managed to get away before they got me too bad. I think they cracked a rib though."

"Oh my gosh, are you alright?" Ino asked, her eyes concerned.

"Yeah I'm fine." They all gave me skeptical looks, glancing at each other. "Really, I am. I took some medicine before I left, I feel fine!"

"All right, we believe you," Shikamaru said. A waitress came out and took our order, bringing me something to drink as well.

"So, tell us more about you. Where are you from?" Ino asked. I was silent for a minute, before answering.

"I used to live in Suna with my father, two older half-siblings, and one younger half-sibling. My mother was a ninja from Konoha, and for some reason she had me live with my father until I was about one. Then she stole me away when the Kyuubi attacked the village and took me to live with a friend. When she died, her friend took pity and adopted me. For the next 13 or so years I lived alone with my adoptive mother, until the Hokage contacted me and asked me to come here. I trained by myself because there wasn't an academy anywhere near where I lived. I guess I do okay, but I think going to the academy for a while could really hone my skills. So here I am."

"Ooh, that's interesting!" Ino said, soaking in the gossip about the new girl.

"That's a nice story and all, but I get the feeling that you're not telling us everything," Shikamaru said, leaning back and crossing his arms behind his head. This guy was really perceptive; almost to the point of being creepy.

"Ah, but that's for me to know, and for you to…not to. Does that make sense? Oh well, it doesn't matter. I think you get the point," I said.

We sat the rest of the time in silence, until Ino left, leaving Shikamaru, Choji, and I together. I took out some cash and put it on the table.

"What do you think you're doing?" Shikamaru drawled, eyeing me with curiosity.

"I'm paying for breakfast, what does it look like? It's the least I could do since you guys are showing me around the village today."

"We are? Since when?" Choji asked, looking at Shikamaru, who shrugged.

"Since right now! Come on, we're wasting daylight!" They didn't budge, still staring at me. I sighed. "Choji," I sang, ignoring Shikamaru for now. He looked over, suspicious. "There's two bags of BBQ chips in it for you!" His eyes grew huge and he jumped up, almost knocking over the table, and grabbed the collar of Shikamaru's shirt.

"Let's go Shikamaru! I want those chips! HAAAAAAAAAAA!" I laughed and ran after them, listening to Choji rapidly name off places and streets as we breezed through. Shikamaru seemed to have given up, letting Choji drag him around.

Choji stopped a few minutes later in front of a small market, the windows stuffed with all sorts of snacks. He dropped Shikamaru on a bench, who immediately lay down, and looked to me for his reward.

"Choji, since you did such a great job, you get four bags of chips, any kind you want!" I smiled, giving him the pouch. "We'll wait out here for you, okay?"

"Wow, thanks! I'll be back in no time!" he said, taking the pouch and hurrying inside. I shoved Shikamaru's feet out of the way and plopped down on the bench, dripping with sweat and trying to catch my breath.

"I think…I'm going….to die," I gasped, almost wheezing. "My ribs hurt!" I whined. "Why did you let me move that fast?"

s "You wouldn't have listened to me, and besides, it wasn't that hard," Shikamaru said, looking up at the clouds.

"You know what? I'm too tired to make up a retort for that, so I'm going to let it slide," I said, looking up at the clouds now, too. "That cloud looks like a hippo, don't you think?"

"What? That's a rhino, what are you talking about?"

"It's a hippo with a party hat on, that's all."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever you say," he sighed.


	2. Chapter 2

Right, I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, only my OC.

"Naruto, wake up already! You're going to make us late! There's no way I'm missing the graduation exam! I've been waiting for six months for this!" I pounded on the door but there was no response. I had already been there for five minutes, and my patience was wearing thin. "Naruto Uzumaki, if you don't open this door by the time I count to five, I'm breaking down the door." Still nothing. "ONE….TWO…THREE…FOUR….FI-" Naruto then decided to open the door, his eyes half open and his ridiculous pajama hat leaning dangerously to one side.

"What's with all the noise Ariana, sheesh," He rubbed his eyes and yawned, opening the door so I could come in. I grabbed him by the back of his pajamas and dragged him towards the bathroom, picking up his orange jumpsuit on the way there.

"The exam starts in thirty minutes, and you aren't even dressed yet. Get a move on!" Naruto's eyes widened and he started freaking out, trying to brush his teeth and pull on his shirt at the same time.

"Oh no, I'm gonna miss it! Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" he yelled, zipping up his jacket.

"I did! I was knocking at your door for at least five minutes and you didn't even wake up!" Naruto wasn't even listening anymore, looking under the couch for his goggles. I sighed and picked them up from the floor. "Here," I said, tossing them to him and rushing down the hall towards the door. "We need to leave, like right now. Let's go!"

"Right!"

We burst into the classroom right before Iruka-sensei walked in. I scrambled to a bench and slid in, ignoring the stares of the other students. Naruto slid in beside me.

"Good, it looks like you're all here. Ok class, we will now start the final exam. When your name is called, please proceed to the testing room. The final exam will be on… the clone jutsu." He said. Naruto grabbed his face and groaned. I felt bad for him; the clone jutsu was his worst technique.

"You'll be fine Naruto! Just remember, all you need to do is stay calm and focus. Take your time," I said, patting him on the back. He gave a weak smile and I smiled back.

"Hey Ariana, over here!" someone yelled. I looked back and saw Choji waving his hand at the back of the room. I smiled and waved, turning to Naruto to ask him to go with me.

"Naruto Uzumaki!" A teacher called, waiting by the door. I gave Naruto another smile and wished him good luck as he left with the teacher. I then got up and walked to where Choji and Shikamaru were sitting, making Shikamaru scoot over so I could sit.

"Yo," I greeted. Shikamaru cracked an eye open, and then went back to sleeping; Choji gave a smile.

"So Ariana, do you think you'll pass?" he asked. I snorted, waving my hand at him.

"Of course I will! I'm a pro at this jutsu. I'm not so sure about Naruto though. If I remember correctly, he doesn't do too well," I said mostly to myself. Choji and Shikamaru paid no attention to it, used to my random knowledge of the future. "What about you guys? Do you think you'll graduate?"

"Heck yeah! This is such an easy thing to test us on, right Shikamaru?" Choji said. Shikamaru didn't move.

"He fell asleep again. I swear, he's gonna sleep his life away." More names were called, but I didn't pay attention to any of them as I chatted to Choji.

"Shikamaru Nara," the examiner called. I poked him when he made no move to get up; he twitched.

"Oh, great, I hate when he acts like he's asleep," I scowled. I looked at Choji, who nodded. We both grabbed an arm and hauled him up, pushing him out into the aisle. He lay there for a minute before finally getting up, leaving after giving us a glare. I smiled and waggled my fingers at him, pulling down an eyelid and sticking my tongue out after he was gone.

"Do you think he'll actually get up enough motivation to pass?" I asked Choji.

"Yeah, I think so. Going through the academy again would be too much work for him. Not like Naruto, who fails every time. He keeps trying though, so I have to give him points for that."

"Yeah, Naruto's pretty amazing, isn't he?" I said, filled with pride for my friend, who was more of a brother to me.

"Amazing isn't exactly the word I would use, but whatever. Hey, you wanna get some barbecue after the exam?" Choji asked. The teacher came in again and called out my name.

"Sure, that sounds great. See ya then!" I smiled as I walked with the man out of the classroom, but I settled my features into a more serious expression as we stopped in front of the exam room. He opened the door for me, revealing Mizuki-sensei and Iruka-sensei.

"Hello Ariana. Please, come in." Iruka said. Mizuki never really said much of anything, but I knew of the insanity that he hid below the surface. "Alright, you must make at least one clone, and it must be an exact replica of yourself, do you understand?"

"Yes Sensei!" I said, making the tiger sign. I stumbled a little forming the signs, but I had four clones that looked exactly like me.

"You made an above average number of clones and the characteristics are flawless, but your hand signs could use a bit of work. Overall, you get a low A. Congratulations, you pass," Iruka grinned, tossing me a headband.

"Thank you Iruka-sensei, Mizuki-sensei," I said, walking out of the room. I started running as soon as the door closed, heading outside to where Naruto would be waiting. I slammed the door open and ran towards Naruto and Shikamaru, whooping and yelling. "NARUTOOOO! I PASSED, I PASSED!" Shikamaru and Naruto just happened to be standing too close together, so they were both tackled in my leaping hug.

"Such a drag," Shikamaru groaned from under my left arm. Naruto laughed and hugged me as best he could with half of his body squished under me. Shikamaru awkwardly patted my back and then went back to laying there like a rock. I pushed myself off of them and pulled them up, still grinning like an idiot.

"Okay, Shikamaru, I know you passed, but what about you Naruto? How'd it go?" I asked excitedly. Naruto's smile disappeared and he looked at the ground.

"I think I'll go find my parents. See ya," Shikamaru said, walking away faster than usual.

"I failed again. T hat's the third time. I tried so hard and I still failed."

"Hey, chin up Naruto! You just need to keep trying and you'll pass next time for sure!" I said reassuringly, mock punching his shoulder. "Now come on, turn that frown upside down!" He gave a small smile that didn't convince me one bit. "Look Naruto, life isn't always easy. You just have to keep trying. Trust me; in the long run it'll all be worth it."

"Yeah, you're probably right. All right! I'm going to go home and do some more training, after some Ichiraku's; I'm starving!" He did another of his weird poses- this one was simply his arm raised in the air with his index finger pointed at the sky- before sitting on the swing that was hanging nearby. We lapsed into an easy silence until everyone had finished the exam. Parents had arrived, and were praising their children and telling them how proud they were.

"Ariana, are you ready to go or what?" Choji yelled.

"Yeah, just a second!" I answered. I turned to Naruto and gave him the sternest look I could manage. "I have to go now Naruto. Don't do anything stupid."

"Aw come on, have some faith in me will ya?" He pouted.

"Naruto," I deadpanned, "I left you alone for a while yesterday and you ended up painting the Hokage's faces, got caught skipping class, made the whole class have a pop quiz on the clone jutsu, failed the quiz because you used your Sexy Jutsu, which I don't approve of by the way, gave Iruka-sensei a nosebleed, and had to clean the Hokage's faces as punishment. You're lucky that I let you out of your apartment." Naruto rubbed the back of his head and laughed sheepishly.

"What, that? Psh, that was nothing, don't worry about that!" He gave me a light shove towards where Choji and his parents were standing.

"Remember Naruto, nothing stupid," I warned, walking away. I chatted with Choji's family for a while, before hearing two of the village women talking in hushed voices.

"Please, excuse me for a moment," I said hurriedly, pushing through the crowd to get closer to the women.

"There, you see him?" one woman spat with disgust, glancing at Naruto. Her voice grated painfully against my ears.

"I hear he's the only one who failed," the other woman said. She had a bit of a sympathetic tone, but it wasn't much better than the first.

"Heh, it serves him right. Just imagine what would happen if he became a ninja!" woman two said. They were both turned towards us now, not considering the possibility of me hearing them. "I mean he's the one who-" woman two was cut off by woman one, and they finally seemed to notice me.

I growled and walked up to them, my hands balled into fists.

"You two don't have any idea what you're talking about. What gives you the right to judge him when you know nothing at all about him, or about the hardships he's been through? Who are you to say that he doesn't deserve to be a ninja?" I hissed, looking both of them straight in the eye.

"You don't know what that boy is, what he's hiding, you can't possibly understand," woman one sneered. Woman two grunted her agreement from her hiding spot behind woman one.

"I _do_ know! I've known since the day I met him, and I still treat him like a normal person! He's like my brother! Don't tell _me _that I don't understand! It's really _you_ that doesn't understand; _you're _the one who has no clue! Before I came here you might have been able to sprout whatever you wanted and talked about him when he isn't there like the cowards you are, but with me here that isn't gonna fly. I'm going to defend him from the likes of you until my last breath slips from my body, you can count on it. I swear it, and I take my promises seriously."

"Hah, big words for such a small girl," she laughed, "I could take you right now, without even breaking a sweat."

"I don't think you want to do that. You'll look bad attacking a kid, lady. Why don't you just go home? I have more important things to do than embarrass you in front of all your friends." The woman turned beet red, her cheeks puffing out like a squirrel.

"Why, you little brat! I'll show you!" she yelled, cocking back her fist. She let it fly with a considerable amount of force, but I ducked under and sprang up close to her, hitting the nerves on the side of her neck with the outside edge of my hand. She crumpled to the ground like a sack of rocks, out cold. The effects only lasted a few seconds however and she was on her feet again, a bit dizzy if nothing else. She came running this time and I readied myself for another brachial stun, but Iruka-sensei appeared between the two of us, ending the fight.

"Ariana, this is no way for a genin of Konoha to behave. This woman stands no chance against you, and you know that. I'm very disappointed in you. As a ninja, you must protect the people of the village, not fight with them. I hope you show better judgment in the future. Go now, before you cause any more trouble." The woman burst into large crocodile tears, blubbering about how I hurt her and that she was so afraid. I rolled my eyes and walked away from the crowd, finding Choji.

"I apologize for the scene I caused. I just can't stand people like that."

"It's fine, now come on, I'm starving!" he cried, grabbing his stomach. I laughed as he grabbed my wrist and dragged me down the street towards the barbecue restaurant. I grabbed onto Shikamaru as we passed him, tearing him away from Yoshino and Shikaku, his parents.

"Hello Mrs. Nara, Shikaku!" I yelled. They both waved as we disappeared around a corner, still being dragged by Choji.

It was late into the evening when we finally left, already dark outside. We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways, leaving me to walk alone. The temperature had lowered enough for my breath to be visible; I regretted not bringing a jacket.

A shadow in the corner of my eye caught my attention. I didn't have time to run. Beefy and Skinny stepped into the light, sneering. Beefy's nose was still smashed flat, causing it to whistle when he breathed. I tried to make a quick escape, but Beefy grabbed onto me and kept me from running. I sighed; trouble must follow me around.

"You picked a fight with the wrong people girl. You might've gotten lucky last time, but this time you won't get away. We've got a grudge to settle," Skinny growled. His foot connected with my stomach and I coughed, gasping for breath. I was yanked up by my hair and thrown into a space between an old house and a decaying fence. On the other side of the fence was an empty lot. My chances of escape were not looking good. I was able to catch myself on my hands, my eyes adjusting to the low light. I could see their silhouettes move, and I jumped to the side as another punch was thrown my way.

"Wow, are you still having trouble fighting a little girl? You guys are pathetic! I thought you were supposed to be big, tough criminals or something. You suck," I sneered. Skinny was so angry his head almost imploded.

"Grab her!" he shouted to Beefy. I dodged his fumbling hands and rammed into his side. He crashed into the ground as he was caught off balance and hit his head on the wall. He sat there, dazed for the moment. A burst of light appeared right in front of me, causing my eyes to try and re-adjust to the high level of light. Then, the light was gone and I was left in total darkness again. I never saw the man coming; only the small glint of his knife before it sliced down the left side of my face. I managed to close my eye in time so it wasn't damaged, but my eyebrow and cheek were cut down the middle. Blood flowed into my eye and down my face, dripping off of my chin and onto my shirt. I screamed and clutched at my face, crashing to my knees.

"You took it too far man. I'm outta here," Beefy said, getting up and running out of the alley. Skinny bent down and hauled me up, going for my face again.

"NO!" I screamed, loud enough that I felt something in my throat strain. My eyes burned and I felt a stream of blood run down my other eye, but not from the bite of a knife. The scene around me suddenly grew bright, almost like the sun was shining. I smelt the sweat and blood coming from me, as well as the sweat of my attacker. I smelt the dirt and brick, and heard the tapping of a beetle's legs as it scuttled out of the alley, and the din of people coming towards us. I could taste the man's confusion, as well as his disgust towards me. I smiled and drew my kunai, taking the chance to attack while I had an advantage. I buried the kunai into his side, all the way up to the handle. He turned in shock and flicked on a small flashlight, shining it around. My eyes glowed like a predator's as he passed me, causing him to shriek and lose his concentration. The light went out, and I tasted something new. Fear. The taste coated my tongue like a veil, sour and metallic, and drove me on. I smiled sadistically and attacked again, drawing another kunai and slicing his neck. Blood sprayed in a thick fan on the wall and coated my shirt in more blood as he spun around, groping in the dark as the light faded from his eyes. I watched as he slumped to the ground, clutching futilely at his neck.

The footsteps that had been drawing closer now stopped. Beams of light drove away the darkness. My eyes changed back to normal and my heightened senses faded, leaving me weak and bleeding. Yellow spots clouded my vision. I was unconscious before I hit the ground.

I heard voices around me, and the steady beeping of a heart monitor. I opened my eyes and noticed that I was in a bed in a dim room. The left side of my face hurt like heck and I reached up to touch it. My fingers felt the roughness of a bandage. A hand came from nowhere and grabbed my wrist, pulling it away.

"You aren't supposed to touch that," they said wearily. I turned towards them since my left eye was blocked, and I saw Naruto sitting in a small leather chair by my bed, big black bags under his eyes. Shikamaru was lying in the other chair, snoring softly, while Choji was sprawled on a sleeping bag on the floor.

"Naruto? Where the heck am I?" I rasped. He handed me a glass of water, which I gulped down gratefully.

"You're in the hospital. Some guy attacked you a few nights ago and cut your eye. The medic-nins were able to heal it almost all the way, but they said you needed some rest." He gave me a tired smile, which I returned slowly.

"You didn't do anything stupid while I was out did you?" I asked. His smile faded and he turned away, whistling softly. "Naruto…" I threatened.

"Well, Mizuki-sensei told me that there was a secret way to graduate, so I did what he said and took this scroll and learned a technique called "Shadow Clone Jutsu" from it. Then there was a big uproar and Iruka-sensei came after us and fought Mizuki, who turned out to be evil, and was injured pretty bad. I used my new technique and beat Mizuki, and then I got to graduate!" he rushed. I closed my eyes and grabbed the bridge of my nose gently in frustration.

"I thought I told you, nothing stupid! And then you go out and do something like that! What's wrong with you? You could have gotten yourself killed! Jeez Naruto, you're lucky we're in a hospital and that I'm hurt, or I would beat the _crap_ out of you right now. I can't even yell at you because Shikamaru and Choji are asleep," I whispered harshly. Naruto just smiled and rubbed his head. "How long have you guys been here anyway?"

"Well, I got here after that whole situation. And it's Saturday at about eight in the morning now, so….around 34 hours. I think. I left for a little while to pick up clothes for everyone, because Shikamaru and Choji wouldn't leave for anything. They didn't even fall asleep until about an hour ago."

"You guys are amazing, you know that? I couldn't ask for better friends," I said, sighing happily. "Now come on, wake up the guys while I find my clothes. I hate hospitals."

"Whoa, hold on a second. Normally I'd be all for this plan, but you're not supposed to leave. The medic said that if you were doing okay when you woke up that he'd take the bandages off," Naruto said, pushing me back on the pillows.

"Fine, fine, I'll stay," I sighed. "Now, get some sleep, you look like you need it." He nodded and sank back into the chair, falling asleep almost instantly. I closed my eyes and was asleep again before I knew it, though I had just slept for hours.

I woke up a few hours later, just as Naruto, Shikamaru, and Choji were leaving for some food. They promised to sneak in something for me and left after I waved away their offer to stay with me. A medic-nin came in a few minutes after, funny hat and all, a clipboard in hand.

"Well Miss Moore, I see you seem to be doing all right. Do you think you feel well enough for me to take off your bandage? Be warned though, there is a rather long scar," he said, grabbing a mirror from his pocket.

"Yeah, I feel fine. I'm as healthy as a horse," I smiled, thumping my chest for emphasis.

"All right then. Let's get the bandage out of the way," he said, peeling the patch away from my eye.

"All done, you can open your eye. Here," he said, handing me the mirror. I grabbed the handle and held it out in front of me, surveying the damage. A dark pink scar ran from an inch over my eyebrow to my cheekbone, straight down the center. I noticed that they had cut my bangs, which was a bit disappointing.

"It's not so bad actually. It kind of adds character, don't you think?" I grinned, turning my head to different angles. The medic laughed before saying his goodbyes, leaving just as Naruto came back with Choji and Shikamaru, and hopefully some food. They all froze at the door, staring.

"Well, are you going to just stand there gawking the whole day, or are you going to come in?" Naruto was the first to recover, putting another of his signature goofy grins on his face.

"Hey Ariana, we brought you some food!" he said, taking a basket out from behind his back. It was filled with popular street food like dango, onigiri, takoyaki, a roasted sweet potato, nikuman, and yakitori.

"Have I ever told you guys how much I love you?" I sang. They all looked at me like I had gone insane, but I was too busy eating to notice. The door slid open at that moment, so I threw the basket to Shikamaru. It hit him in the chest and bounced off, spilling most of the contents onto the floor.

"Oh come on! You couldn't even get up enough motivation to catch that? It's food! How could you not catch it?" I groaned. He shrugged. Choji looked heartbroken at seeing all the food go to waste.

The medic-nin that healed my eye came in, carrying a stack of papers and a bag. He stepped on a rice ball, causing him to stop short. He made a face of disgust and shook off his shoe.

"Right. Okay then, here are your discharge papers. You're free to go home. The laundry ladies managed to get the blood out of your clothes, so you can change out of those hospital pajamas if you want."

"Thank you very much!" I said. He smiled and left. I shooed everyone out and changed, leaving the pajamas folded on the bed.

"So, do you guys want to come over to my house for lunch? I'm a pretty good cook, if I do say so myself," I said, straightening an imaginary tie.

"Sure, why not? It sounds like fun," Choji said. The others nodded.

"Oh, that's right; you guys have never been in my apartment before; except for Naruto, of course. He likes to sleepwalk into my apartment and sleep on my living room floor. He scared me half to death the first time. I thought someone had killed him and dumped the body as a warning that they were coming for me next!"

"I worry about your mental health sometimes, you know that?" Shikamaru asked. I shrugged.

"Surprisingly, I get that a lot." I opened the door and let them in, picking up random clothes from the floor on my way to the kitchen. Naruto made himself at home, plopping on the couch and setting his feet on my coffee table. Choji and Shikamaru sat in chairs to either side of him. "Naruto," I scolded, "get your feet off my coffee table! I don't want my table to smell like your feet." He rolled his eyes, but set his feet back on the floor.

"So, how does a 14 year old get her own apartment?" Choji asked. My hand hesitated for a moment, but I managed to recover, grabbing a pan and putting it down like nothing had happened.

"Uhm, as you know, my real mother died. I also don't know who my father is, so staying with him was out of the question. I had to live somewhere, you know?" I turned on the stove, adding some oil into the pan.

"But you said you had an adoptive mother. What happened to her?" They had all moved to sit at the kitchen island, grabbing chairs from the kitchen table.

"I…sort of ran away I guess. I got a letter from the Hokage telling me about my real parents, and I asked her about it. That's when I found out I was adopted. I told her that I wanted to find out about my real family, and she let me go; encouraged it actually. I was glad to go," I sighed. "Don't get me wrong, I loved living there, and I loved her like she was my own mother, but she _wasn't_ my own mother. I had to find out if I had any real family, so I left. Simple as that."

"But why doesn't she send you letters, or money, or come visit or something?" Naruto asked.

"I left very suddenly. Something terrible happened when I left. The whole village that I lived in simply…forgot. Forgot who I was, that I even existed. Even my adoptive mother forgot me. I think it's better that way though. That way, I always move forward, because I can't go back."

"How could a whole village just forget that you existed? It doesn't seem possible," Shikamaru said, scratching his head.

"I don't know how it happened, I just know that it did, and I had no control over it. Maybe it's a jutsu that ensures no one is allowed to permanently leave the village. I guess there's something special inside it, or something they don't like about the outside world, I don't know. All I know is; I'm not allowed to go back."

"That's not fair! I mean, just because you want to leave the village doesn't mean that you should be shunned! Where is this village anyway?" Naruto demanded.

"I don't know," I shrugged, "I never thought to look on a map. I really don't even know how far it is from here. All I remember is falling asleep, and ending up where I wanted to be." Okay, so it wasn't all true. They were half true though, so I wasn't necessarily lying. I set some plates and the dish of food in front of them, getting some condiments out of the fridge.

"What the heck is this?" Naruto said, poking one curiously.

"They're latkes. It's a potato pancake basically. My mom taught me how to make them before I left. I think they're really delicious," I said, dipping a bite in sour cream and popping it into my mouth. The others followed suit, their eyes widening when they realized how good they were.

"Wow, these are awesome! You should make these more often!" Naruto said, grabbing more.

It didn't take long for the dish to be emptied, but everyone was full by the time they were gone.

"So what do you guys want to do now?" I asked, putting the pan in the sink.

"Choji and I have to go. We somehow got roped into helping my mom clean out our storage shed," Shikamaru said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"I'll stay for a while. My TV isn't working," Naruto said, plopping down in the living room. I walked Shikamaru and Choji to the door.

"You realize that he doesn't have a TV, right?" Shikamaru asked. I nodded.

"Yeah, I don't care though. He's just worried about me being alone; especially since it seems like that every time I am I get attacked. I think that's how he "sleepwalks" and ends up on my floor, too," I whispered. They both laughed and turned to leave. "Oh, wait, one more thing," I said. I quickly rose on my tiptoes and gave them both a kiss on the cheek and a hug. They turned as red as tomatoes.

"Wh-what'd you do that for?" Choji demanded, holding his cheek. I smiled.

"Naruto told me; about how you guys stayed. It means a lot to me. I'm really grateful. Thank you," I said, still smiling. I closed the door before they could say anything else. I hear a faint "troublesome" from the other side.

"What took you so long? Did you get lost or something?" Naruto joked, flipping channels on my TV.

"I know you don't have a TV, Naruto," I smiled. He mumbled a bit but didn't say anything about it.

"Hey, Ariana. There's something I gotta tell you. I'm the, I mean I have the-," he began, but I cut him off.

"Nine-tailed fox inside you? I know, Naruto. I've known all along. Let's just say I'm…psychic."


End file.
